Birth. Babies. Beyond.

One of the things I like most about being a photographer is the flexibility. I love the luxury of working around my family's schedule. I usually thrive on a little bit of chaos. I don't like for life to be too scheduled and planned. However, sometimes life gets a little to chaotic even for me. The last couple of weeks has been absolute madness in the Sanders household.

First of all, our new home is all finished! We moved in over Labor Day weekend. I tried to keep the move organized so boxes would end up in the correct rooms to make unpacking a little easier. Unfortunately, by the end of the move everyone was exhausted and we ended up just throwing boxes into the house with the plan to sort it out later. I think we were all stunned by just how much STUFF we own.

My life for the first few days

The hardest part of moving was keeping my kids entertained while I unpacked everything. Although my husband called the cable company a couple of weeks before we moved in, there were multiple mistakes that have led to us STILL not having internet or cable nearly two weeks later. I actually drove over to our empty temporary apartment to use the WiFi to write this post. My kids have been great about playing and entertaining themselves when I've needed them to, but there have also been plenty of days when I desperately miss Netflix.

A little early morning drawing

Cabinet latches were a top priority

To make matters even crazier, my oldest baby started preschool just two days after we moved in! Most of our belongings were still in boxes, but you better believe this mama had enough sense to make sure the necessities were readily available.

Necessities = coffee

I couldn't find my makeup, and I had to get a diaper for the baby from my emergency stash I keep in the car, but I had my coffee. That, my friends, is what I call having priorities.

Of course, I have to give kudos to my big girl. Going through a major change can be very difficult for a 4-year-old and it's best to expect and prepare for an adjustment period. My girl went through TWO big changes in a matter of days and handled them like a pro. I'm not going to say she was perfect. There were a few days where she didn't get quite enough sleep or had an attitude, but overall, she handled everything much better than I expected.

She was so excited about school, which made it a little easier on me. Although, I will admit I briefly felt like Gus Portokalos from My Big Fat Greek Wedding because I wanted to cry out, "Why you want to leave me?!"

I practice self-restraint and gave her a kiss and told her to have a great day instead. I managed to make it to my car before I shed a few tears. I thought I was doing great until her favorite song came on the radio. Nothing makes you feel like you've succeeded in life quite like sitting in your mom van, crying to Taylor Swift's ​Shake it Off.

First day of school

I don't know about you, but I'm stressed just writing all of that. I'm not done though. Less than a week after moving in, Hurricane Irma was threatening the South Carolina coast. Ultimately she turned to the west side of Florida instead, but we still endured tropical storm conditions and flooding here in the Charleston area. We boarded up our beautiful new house and prayed for the best. We were very fortunate that our new house suffered no damage and all our friends and family are safe.

Life is slowly starting to get back into a rhythm. We're almost done unpacking, and my girl is still loving school. Assuming the cable company finally has its ducks in a row, I should have internet within a week and can resume my usual blog posting and photo sharing. I'm looking forward to getting back into my normal, everyday chaos.